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U.S. Adoption Death Is Probed

Authorities have opened a criminal probe into the 2005 death in the United States of a Russian child adopted by an American couple, the Investigative Committee said in a statement Tuesday.

"In the period from July to August 2005, in the U.S. state of Iowa, Russian minor Ilya Kargintsev, known after adoption as Isaac Jonathan Dykstra, was caused deliberate bodily harm in the form of head injuries and cerebral edema, leading to the death of the child," the committee said.

The investigation comes just a month after a jury acquitted Brian Dykstra, 35, of killing his 21-month-old adopted son, who died three months after arriving at his new home.

Russian investigators will assess the actions of state adoption authorities in the Krasnoyarsk region and seek to bring those responsible to justice, the statement said.

Pavel Astakhov, the Kremlin's children's rights ombudsman, had earlier criticized U.S. authorities for failing to alert Russian authorities to the case for six years.

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